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Where We Work... |
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African Promise currently works with five
primary schools in the |
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rural
community of
Kasigau
in south-east Kenya. |
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More about the region |
More about the schools |
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The Region: |
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The Kasigau community sits amongst ranch lands
in the middle of a
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wildlife corridor
between the Eastern and Western parts of Tsava |
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National Park. From
its most northern point (on
the Nairobi-Mombasa |
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highway that
dissects the two areas of the
park), the region includes |
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around
fifteen villages that line a dirt
track that runs 35km due
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south
towards
the Tanzanian border. |
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At the end of that track rises the spectacular
1800m high Mt.Kasigau. |
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Its shape and distinctive summit make is the
most recognisable |
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feature on the semi-arid landscape. Surrounding
the foot of the |
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mountain sit the five villages that comprise the
Nyangala |
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community:
Kiteghe, Rukanga, Makwasinyi, Jora and Bungule. |
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These villages are home to the proud Taita tribe
and more than 8000 |
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people live here. Rukanga, the epicentre of the
community, is by far |
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the largest of the villages while the
other villages, though somewhat |
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smaller in size and population, are
broadly similar to each other. |
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See a map of the region... |
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The Schools: |
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There is a primary school in each of the five
villages and, as of the |
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end of 2007, they had a combined enrolment of
1374 pupils. The |
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schools vary in size and age with Rukanga, the
most heavily |
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populated village, accounting for 375 pupils
with Kiteghe, on the |
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other hand, accounting for just 185. Pre-primary
schools account for |
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an additional 353 pupils across the five
schools. |
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All of the schools are community founded and
were constructed at |
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various times between 1940 and 1990 and, in
their current status, |
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are all mixed day public schools.
Administratively the five schools |
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are part of the Kasigau zone (comprising of the
fifteen schools in |
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Kasigau), Voi Division (comprising of 37 schools
from the nearest |
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market town of Voi and surrounding villages) and
Taita / Taveta |
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District (comprising of 183 schools from towns
and villages of the |
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Taita region of south-east Kenya. |
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Since the introduction of Free Primary Education
in 2003, attending |
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primary school in Kenya has been free and public
schools have been |
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funded by the government. Each school
receives a termly
allowance
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per pupil which, over the last couple of
years, has amounted to |
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around £6 per pupil per year. |
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